CdM | Eurozone inflation is now below the European Central Bank’s (ECB) 2% target after the Consumer Price Index (CPI) moderated by three tenths of a percentage point to 1.7% in January, in line with expectations, according to figures published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union (EU).
This brings overall inflation to its lowest level since September 2024.
By component, energy prices fell by 4% in the first month of 2026, compared with a 1.9% decline in December. Of the rest, services continue to have the highest annual rate, although it moderated to 3.2% from 3.4% in the previous month.
Meanwhile, the cost of food, alcohol and tobacco rose by 2.6%, up one tenth of a percentage point, and non-energy industrial goods rose by 0.4%, also up one tenth of a percentage point. Specifically, fresh food prices rose by 4.2%, compared to 3.5% in the previous month.
Across the EU, annual inflation stood at 2% in January, compared to 2.3% in December.
By country, the lowest annual rates were in France (0.4%), Denmark (0.6%) and Finland and Italy (both 1%), while the highest annual rates were in Romania (8.5%), Slovakia (4.3%) and Estonia (3.8%).
As for the core inflation rate, i.e. excluding the impact of energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, it fell by one tenth of a percentage point in the first month of the year to 2.2%. This is its lowest level since October 2021.
